Study questions about John's Gospel

Key Scriptures

If you remain faithful to my teaching, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free (John 8:31-32)

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6)

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world (John 17:17-18)

I was born and came into the world for this reason: to testify to the truth. Whoever accepts the truth listens to my voice (John 18:37)

STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Is John's Gospel close to the historical Jesus? How can we compare with the Synoptics?

2. Who are the Johannine Christians? Why was this Gospel written?

3. How is Jesus portrayed in the Gospel? What is his primary work to do?
For example, Jesus never claims that he is God. The opposite is obvious. What does he say that his work is? Look what he says: “If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me. But if I do them, and you don’t believe me, believe the works so that you can know and recognize that the Father is in me and I am in the Father” (John 10:37–38, Common English Bible).

4. What is Jesus' relationship to the Father?
He seems like a new Moses! In what sense?

5. What relation is there between Jesus and the Logos in the Prologue and in the entire Gospel?
The prologue does not say that Jesus is the Logos. Then, what does he have to do with the Logos? What is the Logos? Can we say the Logos is God's?

6. How can we understand incarnation theology in 1:14: “The Logos became flesh”?
John 1:14 must be understood in a metaphoric sense. What does flesh represent?

7. How can we understand the “I am” sayings of Jesus?
There are seven "I am" sayings of Jesus with the predicate.

8. Does John 14:6 exclude other religions?

9. In what sense is Jesus the way, the truth, and the life?

10. How is spiritual birth different from physical birth?


*Refer to my book, Truth, Testimony, and Transformation.

The Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:27

Why does the dominant scholarship about "the body of Christ" in 1 Corinthians emphasize unity, which is the rhetoric of Stoicism? Whose unity? I am very much concerned about such a hegemonic interpretation.

"The body of Christ" was my dissertation topic long ago. I wrote a book about this, "Christ's Body in Corinth: The Politics of a Metaphor" (Fortress, 2008). Since then, I have delved into Paul's letters and sharpened my understanding of Paul's theology. I am still convinced that my alternative view of this metaphor makes sense. I am against the traditional reading that emphasizes unity (homonoia). There are different views of the body of Christ between Paul’s authentic letters and the disputed letters. While the latter clearly underscores the metaphorical organism, the former does not. But still, the traditional reading of the body of Christ even in 1 Cor 12 and Rom 12 is an organism. According to a metaphorical organism, “You are the body of Christ” (1 Cor 12 and Rom 12) is understood as “You are the community of Christ.” The emphasis of the traditional reading is unity; "You are one." But in an alternative reading, the body of Christ can be understood as a way of living; that is, it is a Christic body: Christlike body or living. This use of the genitive case is an attributive genitive and we see this kind of the attributive genitive in "the body of sin” (Rom 6:6), which we understand as "the sinful body." The alternative interpretation underscores the union with Christ and diversity. Here union, unlike unity in Stoicism, means the ethical one that Christians (Corinthians) have to embody Christ. So, "you are a Christic body, individually and communally." The Corinthians must follow the way of Christ and then they are united with Christ.

Galatians and Circumcision: Matters of Scriptural Interpretation

Eventually, what matters is how to interpret scripture. Jewish Christians argue that circumcision is a must. Their scriptural basis is Gen 21 in which God orders all descendants of Abraham to be circumcised. But Paul’s scriptural interpretation begins with Gen 12 in which God calls Abraham out of nowhere and Abraham trusts him. Faith comes before circumcision (law). Faith comes before the law. Faith is the starting point for a new relationship with God. Faith can lead to keeping the law. For gentile Christians, works of the law such as circumcision or purity laws are not essential. For Jews, they can keep these laws along with faith.

The Old and New Perspectives on Paul

Did Paul reject the law or Israel for the sake of faith? But he says that the law is holy and that faith cannot overthrow the law. Christ fulfilled the law, and the law and faith can go hand in hand with a focus on the love of God and the love of neighbor. Jesus is a paragon of faithfulness. Christian means to follow him and his faithfulness.

Rom 3:22 as a Snapshot of Paul's Gospel

[Courtesy of FreeBibleImages.org]

"God's righteousness through Jesus Christ's faithfulness for all who believe" (Rom 3:22).

Rom 3:22 may be considered a snapshot of Paul's gospel: “The righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe.” There are three elements in his proclamation: God’s righteousness; Christ’s faithfulness; and Christian participation in Christ. God’s righteousness means that God is righteous and steadfast. Christ’s faithfulness demonstrates God’s righteousness: Christ’s grace, love, and sacrifice for God and humanity. But nothing will happen unless there is a response from people. God’s righteousness comes through Christ’s faithfulness for all who participate in Christ.

Conclusion:
You are under God’s righteousness. That is, you are in the domain of God’s love and care. God is like the sun. Come out to God through Jesus’s faithfulness and his grace. This means you share in his faithfulness, dying to sin, living to God.

Paul and the Good News

Paul's gospel involves a threefold (tripartite) relationship between God, Christ, and people. God is the good news, which is about the rule of God. Christ exemplified it through faithfulness. People have to proclaim the good news of God that came through Christ.

Jesus and the good news of God

What did Jesus proclaim after John was arrested? Mark 1:14 says that he proclaimed "the good news of God." God is the ruler; God rules with justice and mercy.

What is the essential thing that Paul shares with Jesus?

Jesus and Paul must be understood within Judaism. Both of them share the following: 1) God-centered good news! The good news is about God and comes from God; 2) The importance of change/renewal of a mind. Metanoia (Jesus); Metamorphosis (Paul).

The Johannine Dualism as a Transformative Space

The dualism of John is not a Gnostic type of dualism; it is a transformative space in which the community engages in the world through love. Love overcomes fear. Love transforms the community. Love is a new way of living in times of crisis. As God so loved the world, Jesus also did it. John’s community also does the same thing.

Johannine Language: Ironies and Metaphors

John's Gospel is full of ironies and metaphors. How can we understand them?

See my article:

"The Johannine Realism about the Kingdom of God: "Born from Above, Born of Water and Spirit" (John 3:1-21)"

Abstract:
John emphasizes the realism of the kingdom of God in the present. Given the Johannine community’s expulsion from the synagogue due to its faith that Jesus is the Messiah, the members of this nascent community need assurance about their new place in Christ. They are comforted and encouraged to live as children of God. They are born from above and experience a new life through the Spirit. To maintain their discipleship with Jesus, they must keep his word and stay in the light. The Advocate will come to them after Jesus is gone, and God’s reign continues to be seen, touched, and experienced in the present. As Jesus sends his disciples into the world, the Johannine community receives a new mission to love the world, testifying to the truth of God, following Jesus’ word.